Albanese seeking call with Netanyahu as soon as possible after Sydney march
Tom McIlroy
The prime minister is seeking to press his Israeli counterpart about the devastation in Gaza in an upcoming phone call.
Anthony Albanese is seeking a call with Benjamin Netanyahu as soon as possible after at least 100,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday to protest bloodshed and suffering in the conflict.
Guardian Australia has been told Albanese hopes to speak to Netanyahu as soon as a phone call can be locked in.
Separately, the assistant minister for immigration, Matt Thistlethwaite, told Sky News this morning a conversation between Albanese and Netanyahu is “being pursued” this week.
Albanese has said publicly more humanitarian aid was badly needed, amid international outrage about starvation.
Australia has been criticised by Netanyahu in recent months, including over government responses to high-profile antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Albanese said last week:
We have a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there, and Australia is willing to play our part there.
That is indeed something that is bringing, I think, legitimate criticism of the actions of the Netanyahu government. Too many innocent lives have been lost.
Key events
NSW premier says it’s not ‘open season on the bridge’
NSW premier Chris Minns said he does not regret voicing his opposition to the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest, but said he respected Australians’ right to protest. Minns said during a press conference a moment ago that it was his job to “be on the side of public safety”, saying the government was in a difficult position balancing that need with the right to demonstrate. He said:
Firstly it was a massive crowd, over 100,000 people. If the weather wasn’t appalling I think it would’ve been even bigger than that, maybe even double the size.
I accept that there’s a huge groundswell … It’s a difficult one for the government. We have to balance public safety and the public’s right to protest … alongside running a big city like Sydney. Ultimately my job is to be on the side of public safety.
Minns went on to say: “No one should believe that it’s open season on the bridge”:
We can’t knock out the bridge every weekend. There can be a demonstration every weekend. But I need to weigh up public order, community safety with the public’s right to protest. …
We’re not going to have a situation where the anti-vaxxer group has it one Saturday … and then the weekend after that an environmental cause … A big city like Sydney couldn’t cope with that.
Plibersek says Australians want to send a message there’s been ‘too much death’ in Gaza
Tanya Plibersek, the minister for social services, said Australians understand the importance of protest in a healthy democracy, but said people wouldn’t want to see “the Harbour Bridge shut down every weekend” akin to yesterday’s mass march in support of Palestinians.
She told Sunrise this morning:
At the end of the day, I think Australians do want to send a message that there has been too much death, too many people have lost their lives and we want to see the hostages return, we want to see humanitarian access to Gaza, we particularly don’t want to see children starving to death as a result of this conflict …
I don’t think this is something that should happen every day. But within reason, we have a peaceful right to protest in this country and if protest organisers arrange things with police with sufficient warning, if the crowd behaves well … It’s part of our democracy.
Josh Taylor
Government handed report on age assurance technology trial
The federal government has been handed the final report of the age assurance technology trial that will inform the government on the types of technologies used to implement the under-16 social media ban from December.
In a note on the trial’s website on Friday, the trial reported the 10-volume report had been submitted to government, and the timing of the publication was a matter for the government.
The trial said the final report builds on the interim conclusions released earlier and says the final findings “are supported by further analysis of the extensive data collected” in the trial.
NSW SES says 200 cars trapped in snow over the weekend mostly free, but black ice remains a concern
Approximately 200 cars were trapped in snow this weekend after heavy falls blanketed the northern tablelands. The NSW SES said most of those cars have since been able to escape from that event as conditions eased, and the snow is no longer a major concern.
But black ice may be dangerous in the area around the region as the snow melts.
Emergency officials are urging drivers to travel carefully and be aware of changing road conditions. The NSW SES said:
If you do need to be on the roads, use the brakes gently and drive slowly.
Man wearing Scream mask allegedly graffitis Melbourne synagogue
Victoria police are investigating multiple incidents of graffiti at a Melbourne synagogue after a man allegedly caused criminal damage to the building multiple times over the last six months.
Police said an unknown man arrived to the Torah Road synagogue at least five times between March and July on a black e-scooter before allegedly spray-painting offensive phrases on the building. During two incidents in July, officials said the man was wearing a “ghostface” mask from the Scream films that completely covered his face.
The man is thought to be of Caucasian appearance, bald and of medium build and bald. Police have appealed for information about the incident and released video footage from the synagogue, saying:
There is absolutely no place at all in our society for hate-based behaviour.
Albanese seeking call with Netanyahu as soon as possible after Sydney march
Tom McIlroy
The prime minister is seeking to press his Israeli counterpart about the devastation in Gaza in an upcoming phone call.
Anthony Albanese is seeking a call with Benjamin Netanyahu as soon as possible after at least 100,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday to protest bloodshed and suffering in the conflict.
Guardian Australia has been told Albanese hopes to speak to Netanyahu as soon as a phone call can be locked in.
Separately, the assistant minister for immigration, Matt Thistlethwaite, told Sky News this morning a conversation between Albanese and Netanyahu is “being pursued” this week.
Albanese has said publicly more humanitarian aid was badly needed, amid international outrage about starvation.
Australia has been criticised by Netanyahu in recent months, including over government responses to high-profile antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Albanese said last week:
We have a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there, and Australia is willing to play our part there.
That is indeed something that is bringing, I think, legitimate criticism of the actions of the Netanyahu government. Too many innocent lives have been lost.
Sian Cain
Lynne McGranger wins gold at Logies, as Fisk dominates and Guy Montgomery named best newcomer
The Home and Away actor Lynne McGranger won the Gold Logie award for most popular personality on Australian television as she ends her record 32-year run playing the much-loved matriarch Irene Roberts.
McGranger is the longest-serving female actor in any Australian drama, having played Irene for nearly 33 years. She announced her departure in February and her final episode will air mid-August.
The ABC comedy Fisk was the big winner on Sunday, taking home best scripted comedy, best lead actress in a comedy for Kitty Flanagan for the second year in a row, best lead actor in a comedy for Aaron Chen, best supporting actress for Julia Zemiro and best supporting actor for Glenn Butcher.
Guy Montgomery, the host of Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee on ABC, also won the Graham Kennedy award for most popular new talent. The New Zealander gave a bullish speech, telling Australia: “Suck it, we have one up on your country this time!”
Read more here:
Andrew Messenger
Brisbane cycling groups to make second attempt to block Story Bridge later this month
The Story Bridge – one of Brisbane’s few high-quality active transport routes – has been closed to anyone but motorists since March.
Brisbane city council refused to reallocate any of its six vehicle lanes, redirecting cyclists on a less direct route. The council halted an attempt to hold a protest on part of the bridge in May in the Brisbane magistrates court on the basis of community safety.
On 24 August, council will partly close part of its alternative at Kangaroo Point Bridge for the Brisbane fashion festival.
Story Bridge Active Travel Alliance organiser Kathryn Good said the group planned to hold a protest at 11am that day to protest both decisions. It will take the form of a fashion show. Good said:
Every day Brisbane commuters who normally use the Story Bridge shared paths are forced into a lengthy and unsafe detour. Brisbane city council, as usual, is unfashionably late to provide adequate active transport routes.
If Council can roll out the red carpet on the Kangaroo Point green bridge for a fashion show, they can certainly make space on the Story Bridge for the thousands of us just trying to get to work.
Police continuing search for missing small plane near Bass Strait
Tasmania police will continue searching for a small plane that went missing en route from the state’s north to NSW on Saturday.
Authorities said the light plane was carrying two people and a dog on Saturday as it left George Town at about 12.45pm, on its way to Hillston airport in NSW. Search efforts are under way in northern Tasmania, the Bass Strait and regional Victoria in hopes of locating the aircraft. A Tasmanian police official said:
There has been no development overnight in regard to finding the plane, the two Tasmanian residents on board, or knowing their whereabouts.
Tasmania police, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Victoria police are all assisting with the search effort, which includes a helicopter and several boats.
Krishani Dhanji
Commissioner will be a ‘fierce advocate’ for Indigenous children, minister says
First Nations advocates and peak bodies have long sought a commissioner for Indigenous children. Indigenous children are almost 11 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children, and 29 times more likely to be in youth detention.
It’s taken 18 months for Hunter to be appointed to the role, after Labor first promised an independent national commission in February 2024. In a statement, the minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy said Hunter will be a “fierce advocate” for Indigenous children. McCarthy said:
The number of First Nations children in out-of-home care and youth detention is deeply distressing and will take a collective effort to turn the figures around.
Krishani Dhanji
Sue-Anne Hunter appointed First Nations children’s commissioner
The government has appointed the first national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, to help urgently turn around the high rates of First Nations children in out-of-home care and in youth detention.
Adj Prof Sue-Anne Hunter, a Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman has been chosen for the role, which she will commence later this year.
Hunter was a commissioner and deputy chair of the Yoorook Justice Commission in Victoria, and said in a statement that her role will help elevate the voices of First Nations children.
We are at risk of losing another generation to systems that fail them, to removal, out of home care detention and a bleak future. The work is urgent and the statistics are grim. But our children are not statistics, they are our future.
Husic says politicians ‘underestimated’ how strongly Australians feel about Gaza
Labor MP Ed Husic said more and more Australians had grown concerned about the impact of Israel’s war against Hamas on civilian populations. He told RN Breakfast:
I think people in particular believe it’s just not right … To treat kids in the way that they’ve been treated in Gaza. It offends our values as people, and so people turned up in large numbers.
Husic went on:
I think Australian politics has underestimated how strongly Australians feel about this issue … I think this is a moment, a sort of wake-up call for Australian politics.
I think when I looked in that crowd – yep, you had the people that you would expect that have been there from the start protesting, but there was a lot of middle Australia there, and I think that’s something that can’t be ignored.
Government announces $20m additional aid funding for Gaza
Krishani Dhanji
The federal government will provide $20m in aid for organisations to deliver food and medical supplies into Gaza.
The aid announcement followed mass protests in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on Sunday, with thousands of demonstrators, including state and federal Labor MPs marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said the latest funding brings the total aid provided by Australia to Gaza to $130m since war broke out after the October 7 attack.
In a statement, Wong said Australia has been consistently calling on Israel to allow the “full and immediate resumption of aid”, in line with the binding orders of the international court of justice.
The suffering and starvation of civilians in Gaza must end. Australia will continue to work with the international community to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages and a two-state solution.
The funding will be distributed through organisations including Unicef, the UN World Food Programme, and International Committee of the Red Cross.
Ed Husic says Sydney march ‘a wake-up call for Australian politics’
Labor MP Ed Husic has described yesterday’s pro-Palestine march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a “wake-up call for Australian politics” and said he was stunned by the sheer number of people who showed up to protest. Husic told RN Breakfast:
It was a tremendous example of peaceful assembly, of people coming out in force to let governments know how deeply they feel and how much they want governments to act on the concerns that they have, triggered by horrific images that we’ve seen out of Gaza …
I thought it was way larger than the 90,000. It did certainly feel like that.
Flood warnings issued across Newcastle region, evacuations in Gunnedah overnight
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) has issued flood watch warnings for large parts of Newcastle and the lower Hunter region this morning. The alerts come amid evacuations overnight in Gunnedah in the New England region.
NSW SES said they had received more than 3,600 calls and responded to nearly 2,100 incidents during a weekend of wild weather, including 25 flood rescues. Emergency crews are still searching for a 26-year-old woman who was swept away by flood waters in the Hunter region on Saturday night.
Further evacuation warnings are possible throughout the day, officials said. There are now 57 warnings across the state, according to Hazard Watch.
Good morning
Good morning and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to take you through the first of this week’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:
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The NSW State Emergency Service has issued multiple Watch and Act warnings for flooding in the lower Hunter, with large parts of Newcastle urged to heed guidance. There was major flooding in Gunnedah near Tamworth last night.
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NSW police said the organisers of the pro-Palestine march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge were “very cordial” during the lead-up to yesterday’s event. But they said they were deeply concerned about a crowd crush and the sheer number of people who showed up, prompting the march’s cancellation midway through. No injuries or arrests have been reported.
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The Logies have been awarded, with Magda Szubanski inducted into the Hall of Fame and soap star Lynne McGranger winning gold for her long run on Home and Away.
Stick with us.